April 2010 is exactly one year after Aida and I started our mini mangroves planting at Kuala Melaka, Langkawi. Little did I realise that our planting coincided with Earth Day. Remembering the same period that we did the planting, I woke up on that morning and decided to release these seedlings that had been with me for almost a year.
The longest stands at 28cm after almost 1 year
The extreme dry season in January 2010 had made the mudflat like a desert (West Coast Mangroves is now Half a Desert!!) and now the tide has gone up further. The highest tide for this day on April 27th 2010 was at 2.91 meter. Yahoo! Planting is back in action!
When I got to the site, I cursed myself silly for leaving my camera at home...urrrggghhh. So, I am afraid that you have to look at these pictures taken via my low resolution hand phone camera.
The highest tide on April 27th 2010 was 2.91 meter with the young trees half submerged in the water
Notice the swells coming in?
The tide rise up so fast that I felt like I was racing against time putting in those seedlings. I stopped after 45 minutes in the mud. As I stood alone on the mud observing the swells coming in, I realised that it wasn't the swells to be blamed entirely on the lost of most of the seedlings planted previously. Those large debris like drift woods, coconut logs, tree logs and etc carried by the swells were some of the culprits for knocking those seeds off the mud! Those speeding fishing boats entering the estuary aggravate the condition. What I did was planting those seedlings in between the young trees. These young trees are much stabilised now that they could provide shelter to the seedlings. Hope this works, fingers crossed. How I wish I have the time to do tagging on the seedlings too.
I decided to have a rest at a warung to have my favourite drink of Sirap Selasih and chat with the Tiga boys that stopped by for a drink. After the boys had left to open their cafe, I realised the tide has gone down and I decided to finish off the work.
It was just me, myself and I planting 50 over seedlings on a nice cloudy day. There are more planting days to come as there was another batch collected.
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Wow! :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) ^.^ ^.^
ReplyDeleteenvisioning you, doing this alone, in the open mudflat, being focused on it but nothing else... brings to me a familiar sense of joy I derive from the occasional solitude while working for nature... feels good!
Great effort! gogogo! :-)
Hi Raoul;
ReplyDeleteImpromptu events like this made it difficult to call people at last minute. Sometimes, it is easier to do things on your own.
Besides that, who wants to follow a silly person like me sticking into mud and no monetary return.
Yes, i totally agree with you... being solitude with nature is indeed enjoyable and rewarding.. it is a pity that there are some that do not appreciate such experiences.
Whenever you plan to come to Langkawi, come join the planting-lah, if you come at the right time.
Hello, when I do go Langkawi will surely let you know!
ReplyDeleteyeah... these type of deemed "waste time, waste energy and no money" type of activity really difficult to jio people to join... but still, the important thing is to never give up!
who knows your post can make people realize that even with only the power of one, they can really achieve something!
what are you working as? :-)
Hi Raoul;
ReplyDeleteI'm a amateur small time naive unpopular instigating & irritating "Tree Hugger" on this island :-)
Give me an email when you come over-lah. I shall see if I can arrange you to meet up with your childhood hero.
LOL! :-)
ReplyDeletewe'll i'm a nagging, persistent, naive, irritating, busybody naturalist! so, glad to meet you.
Ps- you think without this post as a background, people would think we were both describing mosquitoes? hehe